NSA Statement on The White House Commutations of Federal Prisoners

Friday, October 7, 2016

Alexandria, VA – National Sheriffs' Association Executive Director, Jonathan Thompson, released the following statement in response to The White House announcement that the President granted a commutation of sentence of 102 inmates including 35 of those who were serving life sentences.

"America's sheriffs are very disappointed that President Obama once again ruled outside of the criminal justice system. In this case, the rule of law has been devalued, and the decisions of judges and juries have no weight to this administration. All of the hard work of law enforcement and the criminal justice system to bring these individuals to justice was for not."

"Judging by this list of inmates, this administration thinks that drug trafficking is a non-violent crime and inmates who have violated multiple paroles, and in some cases committed the same crime more than once, are not a threat to our communities."

About NSA

The National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) is one of the largest associations of law enforcement professionals in the United States, representing more than 3,000 elected sheriffs across the nation, and a total membership of more than 20,000. NSA is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising the level of professionalism among sheriffs, their deputies, and others in the field of criminal justice and public safety. Throughout its seventy-six year history, NSA has served as an information clearinghouse for sheriffs, deputies, chiefs of police, other law enforcement professionals, state governments and the federal government.